Every option works for someone. The right one depends on your car, your paperwork and how many days you have left before the drive home.
If you're unsure, describe the car and the situation on the call and you'll hear which route makes sense.
Works when it arrives, if the car already knows it.
Any dealer for your brand, with the car at their shop.
Cut and programmed where the car is parked, for most makes.
If there's a spare key or fob at home and the car already recognizes it, having someone ship it to your hotel or rental may be all you need. It works the moment it's out of the envelope. This suits a week-long stay when the car can sit for a few days. It doesn't help if the spare was never set up for the car, if nobody can find it, or if you need to drive tomorrow morning.
Any dealer for your brand can make a key, not only the one back home. They usually order it by the car's VIN and program it in their service department, so the car has to get there. With no working key, that means a tow, and parking decks along the oceanfront aren't always easy for a tow truck. It's the right route for a car under warranty or recall on the key system, or for one of the few models only the dealer can program.
A mobile locksmith cuts the key and programs the chip or fob on site: the condo lot, the hotel garage, the course. For the common makes, the visit ends with a tested key in your hand and the car exactly where you left it. If yours is one of the dealer-only models, that comes up on the first call, before anyone drives out, so you can go straight to option two.
Plenty of cars here carry plates from far away, including Canadian ones. That's no obstacle. What matters is that your photo ID and the registration line up. If the car is in a spouse's or a relative's name, have them with you or reachable by phone to confirm, since no key is made for a car without a clear link between the person asking and the paperwork.
Four golfers, one rental car and one key is a common setup, and the key tends to end up in somebody's golf bag, which then leaves with somebody's friend. If the key is truly gone, the person named on the rental agreement needs to be there with ID, and the rental company may want to handle it through its own roadside help, so call them first. For your own car on a golf trip, settle who carries the key before the first tee.
Have your ID, the registration or rental agreement, and what you drive, down to the model year. Know where the car is, including the deck level or the name of the course. Mention whether any key still works, since that changes the job. You get a free estimate on the call, and the right blanks ride along with the technician.
Yes, if the car already recognizes it. It works as soon as it arrives. If it was never set up for the car, the car has to learn it in person.
No. Your ID and the registration are what's needed, wherever the car is registered.
Yes, with your spouse present or reachable by phone to confirm, along with the registration.
For most makes, no. Both are programmed to the same system, and the locksmith key is tested in the doors and ignition before the technician leaves.
Yes. The technician comes to the car wherever it's parked, including course and clubhouse lots.
On most cars it's wiped from the car's system when the new key is programmed, so it can't start the car if someone finds it.
No. The estimate is free, and it comes before a key is cut.
Call us and we get a tech out to you.
